The CoatCheck Girl
by TechniCutie
Summary: Under all that happiness, is Lupe hiding something else? Manny and Lupe rant, friendship/hints.


My first Grim Fandango fic! And probably my only, I don't know...but enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Grim Fandango or any of it's characters, etc.

The Coat Check Girl

One word.

Lupe

No, no. Let's start that again. Two words.

Lupe. _Annoying._

Manny Calavera sighed, whilst lighting yet another cigarette after a tiring day at the casino. Tiring wasn't quite the word, though. Exhausting described it much better.

Reflecting back onto things, he didn't know which stage of his journey to success had been worse.

It had started out from scrubbing the pitted tiles of it's filthy bathroom, then surprisingly being hired to work as a waiter- resulting in being severly close to unemployment, as spillages and breakages seemed to occur more often than liked.

He had slowly crawled his way through to the upper-class management, dodging all of the jealous glares from opposing workers, and suddenly co-manager of the casino itself.

The last step to owning the whole restaurant had been somewhat easier than he had figured. Within two weeks of his newly appointed position, the boss had skipped town in an desperate attempt to escape to the land of eternal rest, and fortunately never came back from his watery grave.

Manny hadn't thought Rubacava to be a bad place for a guy, and couldn't see the point in leaving unless it'd been urgent. It had a dock with boats- such as the S. checking in and out the port daily, a betting racetrack that spanned for miles.

Casinos were common, stacked with roulette boards and poker, along with nightclubs such as the Blue Casket, open mic night and alcohol galore.

And well, if you wanted a woman. They were everywhere.

He pondered those 5 reasons carefully, before rolling his eyes at every attempt. He wouldn't stay for those reasons, and of course, with the malicious sprouting murders cropping up into perspective, Rubacuva was dwindling in numbers, doomed to the fate of a deserted lakeside village.

Manny simply could not stand boats, or anything that had some form of steering for that matter. Glottis and his old man companion made quite the duo of earache and drowsiness whenever talking about their favourite vehicles and ways they could be modified.

The racetrack owned by Maximiano, he would not entertain in the slightest. Cats. In his past life, his allergies to the wretched things illed him to no end. One touch of a creature's fur would of sent his allergic reaction rocketing sky high, and ever since he'd preffered standing well away from any kitty racetrack, no matter how amusing their names would be; Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, I Am Not Spot, El Pussy Pseudo, or whatever crazy name they had.

Casino? He owned one, and wasn't about to get involved. Besides, if he did play the roulette tables, there'd be not chance of winning. If he was downstairs playing, he couldn't possibly be upstairs controlling the wins in his secret desk compartment at the same time, could he?

The Blue Casket was just a rival in the catering business, he only went to see a different face from time to time, Lola being a recurrently friendly one.

Drinking had certainly been banished from his schedule. After leaving El Marrow, he had wanted to leave behind all the memories of his stupid and unbelievable antics. Drinking was one of those. Poetry bored him, and he wouldn't be able to put words to poem even if his life depended on it.

Oh, the irony.

Finally, women? Why was he out in Rubacava again, and who was he waiting for? Meche. He barely even knew her, and the only conversation that sparked a worthwhile memory was one full to bursting of dodgy sales and conmen that had landed her in the mess. Manny himself being one of those people.

He bitterly regretted giving her that deal, if only she'd waited with Eva. If only Eva hadn't let her go... The whole place was a complete and utter scam though, so would it have been safer for her to have Domino take care of the travel package?

Deep down, he knew everything was his fault. And Meche's safety was in danger because of him wanting a fat commission to spark hope for freedom of the Land of the Dead.

He'd searched and scanned the computer data for a hint of evil in her, but nothing. She'd even wanted to commit a crime in the Land of the Dead, just to help him out of his misery, but of course that didn't count- not when you're past the underworld border, six feet under and already in the bone world.

"Ah, Meche..." He both sighed and yawned, shaking his head at the mere thought of her. "If only I could go back..."

She would hate him, he would if he were in her position, alone and frightened in the forests, fighting off flaming beavers and poisonous spiders.

Anyone would hate him.

"Maaannyyyyy!"

Turning his head abruptly to the sound of cheer and positivity, Manny clocked who it was, and became the complete opposite.

"Lupe." He confirmed, tone flat and slightly irked.

As an awkward silence resumed, he reluctantly turned his gaze towards her. The Calavera Cafe's Coat Check Girl. The young spritely, fairy type of girl that you'd fall in love with on you're first meeting, and fall to pieces on the next.

Manny swore that if the world truly wanted to end wars, poverty, and whatever else was strictly violent and wrong, the perfect solution was bottled up in Lupe's blood, wherever her body was laid to rest.

Her upmost happiest and positivity still persisted now though, despite death.

"Wellllll, aren't 'cha gonna ask why I'm here?" The happy sparks of energy were apparent in her voice, and Manny knew exactly the reason.

"Let me guess..." He trailed off, pretending to look puzzled by scratching his chin with a bony finger. "The coa-"

"Oooh! No. No. No! That won't do!" She bounced up and down like a pogo-stick in hyper mode. "You have got to LOOK! Not guess! I mean, it would take forever to guess, right? Out of all the things I could be talking about to my boss, it would take ages! Come look!"

She beckoned him with a frantic wave of her hand, laughing heartily, beaming at her achievement. 'Is she serious? All she ever talks about is coats, coats and coats. She's so focused on her job, it would be hard to believe her mind revolves around anything else.'

She paused, cheeks puffing up impatiently. 'Oh, here it comes...'

"Manny! Manny, Manny, Manny. Manny Calavera! Get off your lazy ass and COME. AND. LOOK!" She huffed, stamping the iron beneath her heels, feather hat waving madly in her outburst. His gaze trailed away to a ship in the distance, floating merrily across the-

"MANNY!"

Then he flipped.

"Lupe! Let me guess, the coats!" He snapped suddenly, causing her to flinch.

"The coats, the coats, the coats. They have a new system, right? They're just ordered into a new arrangement, new card markers, barely changed from the last time you told me. Correct?"

He was surprised at his anger that had so easily escaped him. Lupe's reaction surprised him furthermore, as he didn't think she was capable of the emotion.

"M-Manny, I, I-" She was cut off by a cry that escaped her lips, immediately hid her face in her hands, and began sobbing her heart out. He didn't know what to do, not at all. He wasn't good with anyone crying, never mind _girls_ crying.

'Oh God, help me.' He prayed, silently taking a tiny step forward to show he was at least trying to console her.

It didn't help Lupe, however. It just made her cry even more. "I-I-I'm s-sorry!" She squeaked. "I j-just try to h-help!"

He felt so forced, but he meant his apology, however he'd say it. "I know, I know-"

"Waaaaaaaaaah!"

Shaking his head in disbelief, he calmly walked towards her, judging her moves respectively for any sign she would run away from him. She didn't, she barely noticed when he lightly placed a hand on her shoulder, halting her recurrent rocking.

"Lupe. Forget the coats, even for ten minutes, just sit by me," he waved his hand to the view across the sea, and the midnight sky, glowing on the outskirts of the silver wisps of cloud. "And look at the view." He finished, proud that he didn't have a hint of falseness present in his voice, and actually wanted to help her.

At first she made no movement to rise from her position on the balcony, only gasping for air to calm herself. 'I must look awful.' She thought sourly. 'I try so hard to keep organised and positive, but when all comes down to it, I'm a big ugly heap that's no use to anybody.'

Manny wondered why she kept flicking her head to the floor, like she resented herself and was ashamed. He couldn't understand why though, he supposed all the cheer and joy must have an ending point somewhere. Thinking nothing else of it, he shifted slowly in direction to the view, checking back to see if she'd follow.

Eventually, she dragged her feet to stand beside his, and despite being a lot shorter, leaned on the metal fence and hung her head to the ground.

He shook his head, not sure of what to do. Should he talk to her? Or leave her to get her head sorted? "Ay, ay, ay." He muttered, trying to remember any tricks of making a girl laugh or smile when upset.

Of course, he didn't have any.

"Oh, Manny," She began, still facing the floor in bitterness. "I...I just try to help, you know? I need to..."

"Lupe, I know, just, the job doesn't need to be perfect all the time," He trailed away, placing his words carefully. "You can take a break sometimes too."

He regretted every word when he saw her reaction. It was a mix of pure horror and utter confusion, bewilderment. She was way far from positive too.

"You just don't get it, do you?" She muttered, barely audible above the wave crashes. "I...I try to stay positive...for you, Manny." She whispered, turning her head away in disappointment.

Manny was astounded. What kind of confession was that? Did she mean, that all this time...the whole act was for him?

Instantly after his skeptic thoughts, she gasped, flipping forward to face him, hands flying out in every direction.

"Oh God, I didn't mean it like THAT." She stumbled over her words, not letting Manny speak before starting a rant again. "I want you to stay positive! You're always such a downer at work, DESPITE owning the best restaurant in the ENTIRE Land of the Dead!" She empathised that, just to show more attempts at achieving happiness.

Tossing his hands in the air, he tripped on his own words. "I'm always perfectly happy! I don't need your help!"

If she had eyes, they'd of burst from their sockets after that.

"YES YOU DO! ALL YOU DO IS MOPE AROUND, PINING FOR MECHE!" Her voice became dangerously close to a scream, as she fumed in a tantrum, stamping her feet on the grates beneath.

He was taken aback. Not by the fact his own worker had just shrieked quite a truth to him, it was because the truth now seemed so obvious. He always thought about Meche, without fail- but he didn't think he showed it. No wonder Lupe was angry, if he displayed that moping sadness everyday.

"Lupe, I..."

"Ah, forget IT, Calavera." She murmured, feet eager to return to their place behind her desk in the lobby. "I won't bother you, anymore, I'll just keep the system to myself and keep in mind that all my attempts no effect. That they were _worthless_, like me."

Before she could leave, he grabbed her shoulder firmly, and spun her back around to face him. "Now Lupe, you are not worthless. You're definently the most spritely, happy and aspiring person ever to set foot in Rubacava. I'm truly sorry for what I said. Honestly. If anyone's the worthless one around here, it's me. Not you."

She smiled weakly at his apology, tilting her head on her shoulder, looking strong for his sake.

"Thanks, Cal. I'll try to remember that. But it's true, isn't it? I bother everyone. You're losing customers by my mere _existence_ in the cafe. Everyone thinks I'm an ugly little girl not capable of a proper job, therefore working with the coats. I'm beginning to think they're right..." She sighed, ashamed that people would think such things.

"I just, always thought I'd find someone, you know? Somebody who would accept me, and..." her voice deteriorated, mercilessly. "...I don't think anyone would ever love me..." Her voice was below a whisper, floating in the air like silk. Manny had never seen that side of her before, and was speechless. But he knew he could put her mind at rest, after seeing her so engulfed by misery.

"Who needs them?" He asked, flinging his arms in the air to point down at the snobs of customers gathered outside the cafe entrance. "Lupe, they're so consumed by wealth and gambling, they don't even have a sense of what happiness and goodness is anymore!"

He pointed to himself, also dressed to fit in with that crowd, shoes polished and suit pristine white. "Even I've began to lose that! But you know what? I haven't! It's all because of you and your singing and cheer, keeping my head above the waves of riches and fake emotion." He rambled on, pacing across the balcony, desperate for her to understand.

"That is a proper job, too! Somebody needs to do it, and you fit perfectly! You greet the customers, a smile here, a laugh there. They're just jealous they could never even crack an ounce of joy in their own body!"

Lupe was impressed. He never, ever went this far to prove a point. She began laughing, giggling a melodious tune whilst he still explained the whole situation.

"See? Even your laugh is pretty! Trust me, Lupe. If you heard an alcoholic's laugh you'd simply spew up on the coats." He finally placed a hand on her shoulder, making her listen.

"You will find someone. They'll accept you for you are." His voice shrank at his next words, embarrassed of what he was saying. "You're pretty enough, have an inspirational way of working and..."

There she was, chuckling again at him. "Right, Cal, I get it. I get it." She smiled sweetly at his lack of confidence after the rant, and decided that was quite enough.

"Whilst you're looking for Meche, I'll look for my own special someone, eh?" She winked, truly happy. It wasn't forced for his sake. She was truly on top of the world. "Promise me?"

He sighed, looking upwards in amazement that he was agreeing in such a childish way, and turned away from her to hide his expression. "Yes, yes whatever. I promise." She squealed at his reply, clapping her hands in glee. "I'll do my best!" skipping to the exit of the balcony, she turned around to face him one last time.

"Thank you, Manny. I'll remember this!" She exclaimed, swinging on the doorpost. He simply waved his hand to dismiss her, still facing the ocean, astonished by the words he'd spilled out.

After he heard her leave, singing her heart out past his room and down the stairs of the lobby, he could only think of one thing.

"Come on Meche, I need to keep my end of the bargain, for Lupe's sake."


End file.
